Sheriff's lieutenant questioned whether the right house was targeted in warrant before raid

By Natalie Allison Janicello / Times-News

Published: Thursday, April 24, 2014 at 06:21 PM.

Before executing a search warrant for the Burlington Police Department, an Alamance County sheriff’s lieutenant questioned whether deputies were going to the right house, according to the sheriff’s office, though the Burlington officer on the scene assured the lieutenant they were.

The search warrant was obtained April 4 by Burlington Police Officer R.D. Hebden for a house on Maplewood Avenue in Mebane as part of a months-long investigation into alleged drug activity.

Hebden mistakenly used the wrong house number for the search warrant, Burlington police said. The sheriff’s office was tasked with executing the warrant, as the house was outside the Burlington Police Department’s jurisdiction.

According to Randy Jones, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, Lt. Brandon Wilkerson, who was overseeing the execution of the warrant at 3264 Maplewood Ave., looked up the address using a geographic information system that evening before the deputies went to the house.

Wilkerson apparently noticed a discrepancy between suspect names in the search warrant and the homeowner’s name on the property information. Jones said when Wilkerson asked Hebden about the discrepancy, Hebden informed him that the house was being rented.

The Burlington Police Department’s Assistant Chief Verdeck said when the team of deputies, along with Hebden, arrived at the house to execute the warrant, Hebden was in the last of four cars to drive down a 50- to 75-foot driveway. At around 8 p.m., it was getting dark outside, Verdeck said, and as the deputies went straight around to the back of the house to enter it, Hebden took his assigned post guarding the front of the house.

“He stopped in the front, and the sheriff’s office was in the back,” Verdeck said, adding that at that time, Hebden was realizing he had made a mistake. “During that time, he was trying to process it (after realizing) it wasn’t the right place.”

Though Hebden had a radio with which he could communicate with deputies conducting the operation, Hebden never used it to inform Wilkerson or the others that they were possibly at the wrong house, both Jones and Verdeck confirmed.

Jones said after deputies had handcuffed the two residents and secured the house, Wilkerson obtained their names and realized they were the homeowners. Wilkerson then went outside to speak with Hebden about his concerns with having the wrong house, Jones said, at which time Hebden informed Wilkerson a mistake had been made.

Verdeck said Hebden had previously seen the correct house, 3250 Maplewood Ave., in person while conducting surveillance of a suspect as part of his investigation.

The Burlington Police Department previously said that Hebden mistakenly obtained the wrong address before applying for the search warrant by estimating where the suspect house was located on GIS.

“I’m not trying to make excuses for what our officer did,” Verdeck said. “We were wrong. It happened because it was a long, drawn out investigation that culminated very quickly at the end.”

That particular drug investigation had been ongoing since Dec. 1, according to Hebden’s affidavit for the search warrant. Verdeck said on the day he applied for the warrant, Hebden quickly went back to the office, opened Alamance County GIS, “pulled up the street and counted the number of houses down from the road.”

“Was that the right way to do it?” Verdeck said. “No. That should be a follow-up technique. The address and description (of the house) should have already been gotten.”

Upon the Burlington Police Department’s completion of an internal investigation, Hebden will face consequences, though Verdeck said the agency would not elaborate on what kind of disciplinary action would be taken.

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Before executing a search warrant for the Burlington Police Department, an Alamance County sheriff’s lieutenant questioned whether deputies were going to the right house, according to the sheriff’s office, though the Burlington officer on the scene assured the lieutenant they were.

The search warrant was obtained April 4 by Burlington Police Officer R.D. Hebden for a house on Maplewood Avenue in Mebane as part of a months-long investigation into alleged drug activity.

Hebden mistakenly used the wrong house number for the search warrant, Burlington police said. The sheriff’s office was tasked with executing the warrant, as the house was outside the Burlington Police Department’s jurisdiction.

According to Randy Jones, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, Lt. Brandon Wilkerson, who was overseeing the execution of the warrant at 3264 Maplewood Ave., looked up the address using a geographic information system that evening before the deputies went to the house.

Wilkerson apparently noticed a discrepancy between suspect names in the search warrant and the homeowner’s name on the property information. Jones said when Wilkerson asked Hebden about the discrepancy, Hebden informed him that the house was being rented.

The Burlington Police Department’s Assistant Chief Verdeck said when the team of deputies, along with Hebden, arrived at the house to execute the warrant, Hebden was in the last of four cars to drive down a 50- to 75-foot driveway. At around 8 p.m., it was getting dark outside, Verdeck said, and as the deputies went straight around to the back of the house to enter it, Hebden took his assigned post guarding the front of the house.

“He stopped in the front, and the sheriff’s office was in the back,” Verdeck said, adding that at that time, Hebden was realizing he had made a mistake. “During that time, he was trying to process it (after realizing) it wasn’t the right place.”

Though Hebden had a radio with which he could communicate with deputies conducting the operation, Hebden never used it to inform Wilkerson or the others that they were possibly at the wrong house, both Jones and Verdeck confirmed.

Jones said after deputies had handcuffed the two residents and secured the house, Wilkerson obtained their names and realized they were the homeowners. Wilkerson then went outside to speak with Hebden about his concerns with having the wrong house, Jones said, at which time Hebden informed Wilkerson a mistake had been made.

Verdeck said Hebden had previously seen the correct house, 3250 Maplewood Ave., in person while conducting surveillance of a suspect as part of his investigation.

The Burlington Police Department previously said that Hebden mistakenly obtained the wrong address before applying for the search warrant by estimating where the suspect house was located on GIS.

“I’m not trying to make excuses for what our officer did,” Verdeck said. “We were wrong. It happened because it was a long, drawn out investigation that culminated very quickly at the end.”

That particular drug investigation had been ongoing since Dec. 1, according to Hebden’s affidavit for the search warrant. Verdeck said on the day he applied for the warrant, Hebden quickly went back to the office, opened Alamance County GIS, “pulled up the street and counted the number of houses down from the road.”

“Was that the right way to do it?” Verdeck said. “No. That should be a follow-up technique. The address and description (of the house) should have already been gotten.”

Upon the Burlington Police Department’s completion of an internal investigation, Hebden will face consequences, though Verdeck said the agency would not elaborate on what kind of disciplinary action would be taken.